


Let's Talk About Dragons

by Sunquistadora, vamprav



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Crack, Dragon Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Fluff, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), Knight Lancelot, M/M, Podfic, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 20-30 Minutes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25893589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunquistadora/pseuds/Sunquistadora, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamprav/pseuds/vamprav
Summary: When Merlin suggested they get away from the palace for a few days he hadn't been prepared for Arthur to turn into a dragon.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 111
Collections: Pod_Together 2020





	Let's Talk About Dragons

**Music Version:** [Streaming MP3 (right click to download)](http://sunquistadora.parakaproductions.com/letstalkaboutdragons-music.mp3) Duration: 23:48

**No Music Version:** [Streaming MP3 (right click to download)](http://sunquistadora.parakaproductions.com/letstalkaboutdragons.mp3) Duration: 25:52

Cover by Sunquistadora

Thanks to Paraka for hosting and to the Pod Together mods for all their work!

It was supposed to be an easy patrol, more an excuse to get Arthur out of the castle before he decided trying to strangle his father was a reasonable response to having to attend a Betrothal Ball. Merlin didn’t need to be the King’s manservant just yet, he was quite occupied being the Prince’s manservant. Merlin had explained the situation to Gawain and Lancelot and the two of _them_ had gone to the Captain of the Guard.

The Captain of the Guard had taken one look at Gawain’s face, listened to their incredibly flimsy excuse to take Arthur out on a day trip somewhere, _anywhere_ else, and gave them a route that would take them a week at a normal pace. Knowing Arthur the way most of the palace did it would probably take them three days.

It was supposed to be a peaceful journey, ride around a little, check the roads to make sure that nothing had damaged them in the last month or so. Maybe they’d talk to some of the people making their way towards the castle, maybe one or two stupid highway men would give Arthur an excuse to show off. It was supposed to be an easy journey, meant only for Arthur to burn off some aggression.

Merlin was honestly surprised that any of them still thought that Arthur's life could go that smoothly. But, hope sprang eternal and Merlin, despite how badly he knew life could turn out for someone with his talents, had always been an optimist.

The first sign of trouble was one that Merlin had mostly ignored, ignored because he’d been too preoccupied with Arthur’s rant about the injustice of having to go to a ball. There was something about Arthur that had stirred something in the back of Merlin’s mind, always had been but over the last few days it had gotten more intense, harder to ignore.

He didn’t notice the fact that the forest around them was silent, damningly so. Merlin had been raised in a tiny town on the edge of two kingdoms, far enough from any major city that the guards that came through on patrol were few and far between. He knew exactly what a silent forest meant, when the animals hid the villagers gathered what few weapons they had to defend themselves with.

The second sign of trouble wasn’t quite so easy to miss since it consisted of two armed bandits thundering down the road on horseback. Merlin would like to claim that he did what he normally did and got out of the way to assist from the shadows with carefully controlled magic and subtle spellwork.

That should have been what he did, it was what he was supposed to do. Instead he’s sighed heavily and tried to bury his face in his horse’s mane, before tilting his head back to yell “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!” at whatever twisted god had steered them all into this situations.

Yeah…

Merlin hadn’t exactly been dealing with the upcoming ball with any level of grace either. He wasn’t exactly sure if it was dealing with Arthur’s grumbling, all the new people he had to avoid, lack of sleep, the amount of work that he somehow got sucked into despite being the Prince’s manservant, or a combination of all of those factors but his temper had begun to fray significantly over the last few days.

Then, the arrows started flying and it became clear that there weren't just two bandits. Merlin yelped as one arrow came very, very close to his ear and three things happened very quickly.

One, the two bandits reached them and Gawain surged forward to meet them. Two, the six archers emerged from the trees to get better sightlines. Three, Arthur roared in fury, a sound that wasn’t quite human and the reverberations shook the trees around them.

Then, there was a dragon.

And very shortly there weren’t anymore bandits to fight.

Merlin blinked at the dragon, blinked at the piles of smoking ash that had been the bandits, blinked at the two knights who were staring in blinding incomprehension at the dragon. They didn’t seem to have any answers, Merlin went back to staring at the dragon, the horse sized, brilliantly gold dragon that was standing where Arthur had been riding next to a very confused looking mount.

The horses weren't panicking, confused but not panicking, and somehow that was the weirdest part of this entire situation.

“What?” Lancelot asked no one in particular.

“Well, this is… new,” Gawain remarked.

There was the sound of rustling and a buckle being undone. A few moments later there was the sound of a cork popping and someone swallowing heavily and repeatedly.

“You brought alcohol on a patrol with you!” The dragon roared.

In Arthur's voice. The dragon had just yelled and it had been Arthur’s voice that had come out of its throat.

Merlin moaned and buried his face in his hands. “Uther is going to kill us.”

“You mean you didn’t do it?” Lancelot asked.

Merlin’s eyes went wide with panic and he jerked around to stare at Lancelot in disbelieving betrayal. Lancelot just stared at him, like he hadn’t just revealed Merlin's biggest secret to one of the few people who could order him executed with very little questioning.

“Wh-what?’ Merlin spluttered. “What? Like I have magic or something, haha, very funny…”

Merlin trailed off.

Lancelot’s expression hadn’t changed, Gawain was trying to stifle laughter behind his bottle, and Arthur… Arthur’s expression was one of deadpan disbelief. Merlin stared at them in dawning horror.

No.

Nononono. Those expressions could not mean what he thought they did. If Arthur knew he would be dead by now.

“Merlin,” Arthur drawled in the voice he used when he thought Merlin was being a country bumpkin. “You have been using magic to _save my life_ for the entirety of your stay in Camelot. How could I not know?”

Merlin stared at the dragon and then turned to stare at the knights. Lancelot hadn’t accepted Gwaine’s offer of alcohol but looked like he had desperately wanted to.

“Well, you’re not exactly subtle,” Gwaine drawled.

Lancelot reluctantly nodded in agreement. Merlin squawked in indignation and glared at them, he was too subtle, Uther hadn’t found out yet…

Merlin didn’t think that Uther had found out yet, anyway…

Oh fuck, what if Uther knew?!

“I think the only people who don’t know are the nobility, the ones who haven’t been involved in any of Arthur’s… incidents,” Lancelot said.

“Hey!” Arthur barked.

“If you’d stop pissing off magic users Merlin wouldn’t have to save you all the time.” Gwaine pointed out.

Arthur puffed up, like a bird ruffling its feathers. “I am not a damsel in distress!”

“Yeah, sure.” Gwaine took a pointed swig of his drink.

“You do get into distressing situations often,” Lancelot pointed out.

Arthur huffed, and, Merlin’s eyes narrowed, was he pouting? Oh dear gods old and new he was. Merlin hadn’t even known that dragons could pout.

*****

“What do you mean you don’t see the problem?!” Merlin roared.

Arthur watched him, irrationally smug at the fact that the sorcerer’s voice had gone nearly draconic in nature. Merlin was adorable and quite possibly the best thing that Arthur had ever had, loyal because he believed in Arthur rather because it was his duty, powerful and beautiful and amazing.

“He’s a dragon! How is he a dragon?! Why is he a dragon?!” Merlin shrieked.

He smelled good, too, the orange blossom and honey scent that had always clung to him more defined now that Arthur had changed shape. It was fantastic, being able to smell how Merlin was feeling, to be able to react to cues that had always been there but had never quite registered properly.

Kilgharrah snorted, “Pendragon, young lord. Did you not wonder at the significance of the name?”

Pendragon.

Pen Dragon.

Penned Dragon.

Merlin abruptly wished that drinking vast quantities of alcohol didn’t result in uncontrollable magical outbursts.

“If he’s a dragon lord does that make him the boss of you?” Gawain mused.

“Gawain, if you haven’t realized that Merlin is the boss of Arthur you haven’t been paying attention,” Lancelot replied.

Arthur pointedly ignored them, they were his knights after all, it didn’t particularly matter that they were talking about his and Merlin’s relationship, or lack thereof, they were his and that meant they were safe. If it had been anyone else…

Well, Arthur hadn’t figured out how to breath fire yet but teeth and claws worked in a pinch.

“What is that supposed to mean?! How do we get him to turn back? Why hasn’t this happened sooner?” Merlin asked.

Kilgharrah shifted his wings, repositioning them on his back. “That’s up to him I’m afraid. He has to figure out how to do it himself, he was the one who initiated the transformation, he is the one who needs to reverse it.”

“How?!” Merlin snarled, clearly at the very end of his rope.

Kilgharrah gave him a deadpan look before fanning his wings out and taking off. Merlin screamed and cursed at him as he flew off, Arthur wasn’t actually aware that Merlin knew half of those words, then again he did spend a lot of time hanging around the knights and servants. It was reasonable to assume he’d picked up a couple of things.

When the other dragon had turned into nothing but a speck in the sky Arthur reached out a paw and dragged Merlin into his body, curling his neck around the mage in a parody of a hug.

“It’ll be fine, Merlin, it's not like anyone can marry me off now,” Arthur said. “And you could just call him back.”

“No, if he’s flown off he won’t take too kindly to being called back in order to answer questions.” Merlin pressed his face into the side of Arthur’s skull, seeking comfort. “I’m more worried about what your father is going to do to us when he finds out you’ve turned into a dragon.”

“He won’t do anything,” Arthur growled. “He wouldn’t dare.”

And the king wouldn’t, not if he knew what was good for him, Merlin was Arthur’s manservant, under Arthur’s protection and if anyone attempted to hurt the younger man Arthur was fully prepared to remove them from the equation. Uther had already been walking thin ice with his vendetta against magic, if he hurt Merlin…

“Arthur, it isn’t like you can rule a country as a dragon,” Merlin protested.

“Who’s going to stop me?” Arthur asked.

The only people who could make him do anything was Merlin and Morgana and Arthur was certain that Morgana would find this entire situation hilarious. He could almost hear her in the back of his head, the cackle that only snuck into the edge of her voice when she was beyond caring about appearances.

“Point,” Merlin muttered under his breath.

*****

Flying was awesome.

Arthur had never truly considered flying before, he might have always had a marked preference for heights but he had never taken it further than that. It was an old bit of magic, buried deep in his brain to prevent something happening before he reached an age where he could shift.

Most children didn’t survive until their majority as it was, there was no need to make it worse with attempts at flying. Arthur didn’t know how he knew that, didn’t know how the race memories were bubbling up between the cracks in his humanity like water through a damaged goblet but they were undeniably there.

He’d been flying for a while now and if he hadn’t been able to sense Merlin he wouldn’t have wandered as far as he did but he could and he’d needed time to think. Having Merlin and his knights in line of sight was a very good way to stop his thought processes dead in their tracks, a reaction that had only gotten worse with the change from skin to scale.

_Hoarding instinct, treasures beyond measure_.

Arthur shook the thought off, banking to the side and rolling into a cloud, the moisture on his scales soothing. He was starting to hate the race memories that sat in the back of his mind, interjecting at random and without permission.

He’d come up here to think, to plan, to attempt to reason with his hind brain.

Did Arthur want to stay a dragon?

That was the question he was supposed to be answering. He knew that if he turned back he wouldn’t have the chance to wear his scales again for a very long time but… but aside from the teasing remarks he’d jabbed Merlin with did he truly want to stay as a giant lizard?

He could fly and would eventually breath fire. He was strong and powerful, a force to be reckoned with rather than shoved to the side and treated like the naive little boy that he’d never been able to be.

Arthur had been five when he’d witnessed his first execution, the sounds of the midwife’s scream still imprinted on his mind as the flames rose higher and higher. He hadn’t understood what was going on at the time, why his father had sentenced the woman to so cruel a fate.

He’d be able to stop things like that now, prevent them from ever becoming an issue. Magic was dangerous, a weapon more potent than a blade or poison in the right hands, Arthur couldn’t deny that and he’d hated it for a while.

The magic, not the people who wielded it, he could never hate them, could never hate people who died so painfully for doing things they thought would help their fellow man. But Arthur had also had Merlin by his side for years now, had seen the good magic could do, even without the big things, the grand gestures Merlin pulled off as easily as breathing.

Merlin, it always came down to Merlin, didn’t it. Stupid, loyal Merlin who would be safer far far away from Camelot but stayed anyway, a better man than half of Uther’s knights would ever be.

If staying a dragon could keep Merlin from the pyre that was all the reason Arthur needed. But would staying a dragon truly keep Merlin from the pyre or would it lead him right into the flames.

Something deep in the back of Arthur’s brain rebelled at that thought and he had to fly back around, skimming the treetops to catch a glimpse of Merlin, the dark haired mage deep in an argument with Gawain.

Safe, he was safe and Arthur needed to remember that or he was going to end up carrying all three of his companions off into the mountains and never letting them go. Well, he’d have to let them go long enough to go retrieve Gwen and Morgana, Lancelot wouldn’t stay quiet for long if Gwen wasn’t there and Gwen wouldn’t leave Morgana by cho-

Arthur was honestly considering that course of action and he needed to _stop_ before it started sounding like a good idea. Merlin was safe, Arthur’s knights were safe, his sister and her best friend were safe, and they would all stay that way as long as Uther never found out about Merlin’s magic.

Which meant that Arthur couldn’t stay a dragon, couldn’t keep his scales when they returned to the castle. Arthur didn’t like that idea, didn’t like that he’d be trapped in his human skin, his easily perforated human skin.

His human body was strong, stronger than most, probably stronger than humanly possible all things considered but it was more fragile than his scaled hide. He wouldn’t be able to protect Merlin as thoroughly as he wanted to, Merlin would be protecting him, in fact, if the events of the past few years continued apace.

_There is more than one way to protect someone._

Morgana had said that, once, a long, long time ago when the dreams first started. He and Gwen had known about them long before any physician or their father had had a hint of them. They’d been more sporadic in those days, easier to hide, easier to be discounted as just nightmares.

Sometimes silence was enough.

Sometimes but not always, there was no telling if it would be enough to keep Merlin safe.

He’d have to try though, silence and sneaking had been enough so far, it would have to be enough for just a little while longer.

*****

Merlin woke to the warm press of the sun on his face and the feeling of an arm around his waist rather than scale covered muscle curled around his body. His eyes popped open and he came face to face with Arthur’s human vizage.

He must have gasped or something because Arthur’s eyes open and they’re blue, blue enough to swallow the sky. A smile spread across his face, brighter than the sun and beautiful for the very nature of its presence.

Arthur didn’t smile enough as it was. Sneer and snark and smirk, yes, but Merlin could only recall a handful of times he’d seen Arthur truly smile, rather than put on the fake little thing that he pulled out when meeting foreign nobility.

“You’re back,” Merlin breathed into the space between them, voice no louder than a whisper.

“I never left,” Arthur murmured back.

Then, he leaned forward and kissed Merlin full on the lips. Merlin stiffened for half a second before melting into the feeling of Arthur’s lips on his.

The kiss was soft, tender, like Arthur was trying not to scare him off. Merlin wanted to tell Arthur that nothing would scare him off, that he’d been the prince’s since the first time Merlin had saved his life but he didn’t want to pull away.

Merlin’s tongue flicked out to touch Arthur’s lips, tasting the faintest hint of mint before Arthur’s mouth was opening over his and the kiss deepened, turning hot and wet and drowning out the rest of the world around them.

It felt right, like there couldn’t be anything more right than the press of lips on lips and the feeling of Arthur’s fingers winding through the hair at the nape of Merlin’s neck. After a minute that stretched into eternity and felt like no time at all Arthur pulled back.

He leaned his forehead against Merlin’s and stared into his eyes, that same small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Merlin could feel his own lips twitching up in response, a big, stupid grin stretching across his face.

“Are you two done being gross?” Gwaine’s voice broke into the moment like a horse barreling through a door. “We have- oof!”

“They were being sweet, you utter ass, don’t ruin it,” Lancelot hissed, trying to remain relatively quiet.

“What? It’s not like they haven’t…” Gwaine trailed off as Merlin tried to bury himself in Arthur’s chest, cheeks flaming. “Wait, you two aren’t-”

Merlin gestured behind him and Gwaine squawked as the blast of magic wind the mage sent his way knocked him off his feet. Merlin surged to his feet, face as red as Arthur’s cloak, and stomped over to his horse.

*****

Merlin walked into the prince’s chambers and immediately wanted to turn around and walk back out again.

“Merlin,” Arthur whined.

“No, I did not get enough sleep to deal with this today, change back,” Merlin snapped.

Arthur pouted. Merlin had absolutely no idea how a dragon managed to pout but there the expression was, sitting on the golden dragon’s face.

“But, Merlin-” Arthur started.

“Please tell me no one else has seen you,” Merlin groaned.

Silence.

Suspicious and slightly guilty silence.

“Arthur,” Merlin drawled.

“So the maid might have come in earlier, but I think I convinced her not to go running to my father.” Arthur shuffled to the side, looking sheepish.

Merlin groaned, turning to bang his head against the door frame. Why was this his life? Why did he have to be attached to the most idiotically arrogant, brilliantly unhinged prince in the world?

“She didn’t seem all that upset really, just a bit surprised, asked me what I’d done to get myself turned into a giant lizard,” Arthur continued.

“I hate you, I hate you so much right now.” Merlin stopped trying to hit his head until everything made sense and turned to glare at Arthur. “You are turning back into your normal prattly self or so help me…”

“I think you mean princely.” Arthur’s wings ruffled in amusement.

“No, you prat, I know what I said,” Merlin huffed.

“And don’t you know that only a kiss can turn a beast back into a prince,” Arthur demurred.

Merlin wasn’t even aware Arthur knew how to demure, let alone be willing to sink to the levels of some of the ladies at court. The warlock sighed and crossed the room to wrap his arms around Arthur’s wide neck.

“You, even at your worst, could never be a beast.” Merlin pressed the words into Arthur’s scales, the heat of the fire in his blood pulsing under Merlin’s lips.

Arthur shuddered in his arms and then Merlin had a very human, very naked prince clinging to him. It was nice, nicer when Arthur pulled back to plant a kiss on Merlin’s lips.

Merlin smiled before stepping out of Arthur’s arms. “Now, get dressed, you need to meet your father for breakfast in an hour.”

**Author's Note:**

> Music used is Pippin the Hunchback by Kevin Macleod


End file.
